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NORTHERN NEWS, FEBRUARY 13, 2013
NEWS
PAN1011833
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Waitangi looks to future
FROM Page 1
Attitude: Ngapuhi girls Baxter Meek, Carole Poutai and Siarana Ashby at Waitangi.
Fun time: Emma Cribb of Whangarei stands among the crowd watching eight waka
land on the Waitangi foreshore to an epic haka.
become in the world. Gangs don't
even enter the picture.
When you start to shut down
that fire, when you see that light,
that hunger for knowledge, start to
dim in people's eyes, you get the
sense that they might start to get
depressed, angry, bitter and a gang
around the corner is a natural fit.''
Mr Harawira says the ramifica-
tions of the closure are felt through-
out the North, including at his home
at Kaitaia.
I've been lucky enough to watch
that school grow, I watched it when
the Government said it couldn't
become a middle school.
I went down and the whanau
were all there. And they were so
strong.
The whanau was so positive I
thought, How can you hold this
back?' And they became a full mid-
dle school.''
Continuing those kids through to
secondary school learning at the
school is an initiative he has sup-
ported from the beginning.
Mr Harawira says he wanted to
present the possibility of the school
being restarted with Mr Key, Edu-
cation Minister Hekia Parata and
associate minister of education
Nikki Kaye all in the same room.
He says many of the students
remained in Moerewa as a part of
the work trust at Pou Herenga
Tangata because of the lack of fol-
low through by the Ministry of Edu-
cation after the school's programme
was disbanded.
They're just doing correspon-
dence when they could be back in
their warm, caring environment,
where learning was something that
kids came to school for.
They loved coming to school.
When kids really want to come to
school, you've got something good
going on.
My view is that if something's
wrong with that, you just fix it up,
you don't shut the operation down.
There are many issues up here,''
he says.
You could generally term a lot of
them political' but that's one that is
felt by all people around the north.''
He says the move to close the pro-
gramme at Moerewa is telling of
how the government treats the
North generally''.
He calls the community sur-
rounding the school a positive wha-
nau and a supportive community
with children excited about the
future.
And their hopes and dreams are
being dashed by a government that
simply doesn't care.
If they cared enough they'd show
a degree of flexibility.''
Ngapuhi advocate Hirini Tau also
attended the powhiri that welcomed
the Prime Minister.
He says Mr Harawira's remarks
on the closure of the Moerewa
School satellite programme were
important.
The shutting down of that school
was a jackhammer on everyone and
it snowballs throughout Tai
Tokerau,'' Mr Tau says.
He says the occasion was low
key'', but optimistic.
Mr Tau says Mr Key's remarks on
Maori governing the proceedings at
Waitangi Day hinted at a renewed
partnership between Pakeha New
Zealanders and Maori -- but he also
says it is easier to talk about change
than it is to enact it.
The only thing that I could
gather was nothing new', but there
was some hint of moving forward in
terms of a partnership,'' Mr Tau
says.
It's all very well and good to say
that, but doing it is another thing,''
he says.